


Bumps and Bruises

by thelaughinghermit



Category: DCU
Genre: Batfamily Feels, Haley's Circus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-17
Updated: 2015-11-17
Packaged: 2018-05-02 03:51:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5232890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelaughinghermit/pseuds/thelaughinghermit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So I saw a great prompt about how the bat family deals with explaining Dick's frequent injuries as a child. So here's my take on it, plus Zitka. There's never enough of her!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bumps and Bruises

Haley was having problems. His circus was still doing fine, thankfully. But there had been several protests about the animals in it. 

He slouched at his desk and put his face in his hands. He and the rest of the circus knew their animals were fine, pampered even. The rest of the world didn't. There were lots of circuses that treated their animals terribly and he knew this. He completely understood the ban the EU was considering. It just put him in a tight spot. 

If he took them out of the European part of the tour, he'd have to take them out for everywhere? But where could they go? He needed someone he could trust. 

"Hey Boss!" A knock came from his trailer window. Haley cranked it open and stuck his head out looking around. It was Pierre, one of his strongmen waving an envelope. 

"It's from Baby Bird!" 

Just like that, Haley's problem was solved. 

A few weeks later

Bruce Wayne had the mother of all headaches. He sat in his leather wingback desk chair with his head in his hands. He hated the press. Hated them with a fiery passion. He could barely deal with Superman's alter ego and his friend Lois. Non affiliated press were even worse. They took anything they could get and tore into it like hungry jackals. 

What had started out as a politely concerned inquiry from Dick's teacher about the limp he had recently acquired had turned into accusations of abuse and neglect from the press. Apparently, they had months worth of pictures of Dick where a bruise was showing on his waist or he when he was wearing a wrist brace. Though these were products of his time as Robin, Dick rarely thought to cover them. Bruce hadn't noticed a problem either. Now there was a huge one on his hands. 

Bruce groaned and laid his head on his desk. He just wanted to take care of his boy (his son, his mind supplied softly) without this foolish interference. For the thousandth time since taking Richard in, he wondered if he was cut out for this. 

It was in this position that Alfred found him.  
"Mail for you, sir. It seems urgent." The older British man said carrying a silver tray with a well worn envelope resting on it. He brandished it in Bruce's face as he looked up. Bruce tried to wave h away.  
"Alfred, I have a lot of work to do. I don't have time for-"  
"I think you have time for this, Master Bruce. The letter is from a Mr. Haley of Haley's Circus."  
Bruce groaned again and let his head hit the desk. Had the man heard the press' allegations against him and wrote to get Dick back? 

He sighed, sat up, then took the letter from the ever patient butler. Nodding his thanks to Alfred as he turned to walk away, he put his finger to the seam and began to open it. 

'Dear Mr. Wayne' it started  
'I am writing to you about a most urgent matter. It seems I am once again in a position where those I care about must leave my care.'

Wait, what? Bruce couldn't believe what he was reading. It was the exact opposite of what he thought it was going to be. 

'The EU has decided to implement a ban on animals in circuses. This means that several members of my troop will now be without a home. The EU is offering to broker deals with zoos and sanctuaries throughout Europe to send them to, but it doesn't seem right to just send them away to strangers. We had to do it once, and though we were very lucky with that outcome, I don't want to test that luck a second time.'

Bruce's face heated up a little. He was glad Haley had faith in him. 

'So now I must ask more of you. I have found that there is a zoo in Gotham. Would you broker a deal with them to place our dear animal friends? I know they will all be happy to be near their dear Richard again. Their facilities seem clean and spacious too.  
Thank you for your consideration. Please find enclosed the list of those who would have to move.  
Haley  
Haley's Circus'

Bruce set down the letter and leaned back. He pulled out the list and looked it over. It was four elephants, two male lions who were brothers, three ponies, two zebras (who were friends with the ponies and needed to be housed together, according to the letter), two camels, and a bear. 

Bruce couldn't help but laugh. This was much less of a problem than he had initially worried about. Sure it meant a few new charges, but Bruce wasn't worried. 

Still chuckling to himself he called the zoo to make an appointment about going over the list of new members. They were happy to take the animals in and he promised to send the list along and come by to check their enclosure. 

A few days later the head zookeeper was huffing and puffing at Bruce, saying he simply couldn't accommodate all of the animals. As the man ranted and raved and stomped his foot, cursing out billionaires who thought the world had to work around them, Bruce stood quietly and waited for him to lose steam. After another five minutes and the zookeeper finally pausing for breath Bruce interrupted. 

"So cost is the only issue? You have the space but not the facilities and don't have the money to expand?"

"Well, yes" the zookeeper said seemingly thrown off by his nonchalance. "If we had the funds, but there are more urgent uses for the budget-"

"Well let me explain something." Bruce said seriously. "My ward was born and raised in the circus these animals are coming from. The owner and operator of that circus takes their welfare very seriously. Both he and I would like to have them come live here so they're close to the boy and so the old ringmaster knows they're safe. I don't care what the budget is. Fix the whole zoo and make room for these new residents. You have a blank check from me to pay for it. I'd like it done as soon as is feasible. Don't cut corners or anything. Haley's circus has six months-"  
"Thank you! Oh you don't know how much this means to us! We can repair the roof! We can update the plumbing! We can get nicer toys for the big cats! Oh thank you! You're not nearly as bad as the papers make you out to be!"

The excited zookeeper had squeezed Bruce into a big hug, lifting him off his feet and shaking him happily. After being left go of, he called the contractors for Wayne Enterprises and got them connected to the head zookeeper. 

When he arrived home, Bruce sat at his big desk and penned a letter back to Haley. He decided to overnight it to the man so he would have time to plan. As he sealed the envelope and handed it off to Alfred, Dick ran into the room. 

"Bruce, Bruce!" The boy enthused. "Come see the flip I mastered!"

"Were you practicing over the mats?" 

The heavy floor padding had to be dragged out every time Dick wanted to practice aerials. Bruce nearly had a heart attack the first time Dick had somersaulted down the grand staircase. 

"No?" The boy said cheekily. "Sorry Bruce, I can't drag them out by myself!"

"Then wait for me next time." He said in a fondly exasperated voice getting up and ruffling Dick's hair as he went by. The boy giggled and followed him out of the study to dinner. 

"So where you?" The small ten year old asked taking a running leap and clambering up Bruce's shoulders for a piggyback ride. 

"It's a surprise." Bruce said with a laugh, booping his black haired ward on the nose. The boy giggled and continued chatting about his day. 

As they sat down to dinner with Alfred at the small dinner table in the kitchen alcove, he found that the school social worker had come to talk to Dick about his bruises and other injuries. When she found out how much he liked acrobatics she had backed off a bit, but Bruce still found himself clenching his fork and jaw. He was getting sick of people thinking he couldn't care for his ward, even if he doubted himself. 

Extra padding would have to be added to the Robin suit he decided. As they flew over the city that night on their lines, Dick sported these new additions. They didn't seem to slow him down, so they became permanent additions. 

A few months later

Even though Dick had fewer bruises these days as his skill level increased, the press was still snidely remarking about his ward's condition. It made Bruce grind his teeth. But there were exciting things to look forward to. The zoo was reopening. 

The many schools in Gotham, especially the underprivileged ones, wanted to take their students to the grand opening. So Bruce Wayne bought then all tickets. That had excluded small children and adults, so in the end he bought everyone tickets. 

Bruce went up to give a short speech, since he had sponsored the day. He kept quiet about donating the funds at the event, that information could be released after Dick met with his old friends and pets. 

Bruce and Dick were standing in front of the elephant enclosure in the suits and the reporters finished gathering their equipment together for the speech. As they finished settling, he began.

"Thank you for coming today. When I heard the zoo was opening back up with new exhibits and was newly refurbished, I had to come see it for myself. And since I was coming, why not bring Gotham?" This brought a few titters of laughter. "I have a lot of fond memories here with my own parents, so I thought I should bring my DICK!" 

He shouted as he saw his ward start to take a flying leap behind him into the enclosure. 

He whipped around and watching his son in all but name fall and execute a perfect twirl and land squarely in the trunk of an older elephant. 

"Zitka!" The boy cried out excitedly cuddling close to her trunk. 

Bruce gripped his chest and let out a wheeze. 

The elephant nestled the boy to her another moment then placed him on the top of neck where he spread eagled over the top of her head. He played with her ear and seemed to be chatting animatedly. Part of the herd that stood in the distance broke off and came over to examine him. He was patted by trunks and the elephant he was on, 'Zitka' apparently, received pats and nuzzles too. 

The reporters kept saying aww an snapping photos of the young prince of Gotham snuggling with elephants. There were also photos of a doubled over trying-not-to-panic Bruce Wayne. 

"Dick!" Bruce called once he had his breath back. 

"Yeah Bruce?" The giggling boy yelled back as he was transported from the back of Zitka to be cradled in another elephant's trunk. 

"What have I told you about acrobatics without the mats?!?"

"Uhh, not to do it? But it's fine Bruce! I knew Zitka would catch me! We used to play this game all the time."

"Oh," Bruce said, getting paler. "Well, since you figured your surprise out, let's go talk to the zookeeper and you can see the rest of the new additions from Haley's."

"They're all here?" Dick cried up to him as Zitka lifted him back over the wall of the enclosure. Bruce grabbed the back of his jacket and helped him scramble the rest of the way up. 

"You really mean it? Oh thank you, thank you!" Dick said, pulling himself up into Bruce's arms. He hugged his ward back, not worried in the least about their audience. There were more awwws and more photos snapped. 

Bruce finally did notice them, and cleared his throat. 

"Thank you for your time, but it seems we're needed elsewhere." 

With that, he walked away towards the head keeper with his ward still in his arms. 

The next day's paper was a different affair. Suddenly, Bruce was a media darling again. They went on about Dick's life before Bruce and how good his parents were at acrobatics. Some speculated if the high flying tricks were simply part of his genes. There were interviews that showed off the gym that Bruce had built him. 

At school, there were no more questions about possible abuse, which was a load off of Bruce's mind. The social worker still checked in, but it was mostly for stories about the circus and the elephants. 

Bruce breathed a little easier. At least until the next time Dick jumped off a roof as Robin. Bruce swore he was going to put so many pads on that kid he'd be a walking pillow.


End file.
